


Absolute Menace

by inkvoices



Series: Licorice Allsorts [10]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-04
Updated: 2012-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-09 14:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3253139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkvoices/pseuds/inkvoices
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>for a comment_fic prompt: <i>Steve/Tony, babysitting</i> because Natasha said, "Keep him out of the way."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Absolute Menace

“I can’t believe they have us doing this,” Tony complains, letting his upper body slump backwards into the sofa. He runs his fingers through his hair, dislodging dust and chips of wood and tile, left there from when he was inspecting the latest damage to the mansion that Dr Banner had caused by getting a touch too emotional. 

“Doing what?” asks Steve mildly, sitting down at the other end of the sofa with his back perfectly straight.

“ _Keep him out of the way_ ,” Tony says in an attempt at mimicking Natasha and Steve looks at him oddly. “Honestly, I think negotiations with the repair team would go significantly _better_ with the Hulk involved. That way they’d be able to see exactly why they keep getting called out here. What they’re up against. It’d be educational. We may even get a discount.”

“I’m sure Natasha can manage,” says Steve.

“Of course Natasha can manage,” says Tony, shoving his right hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulling out his Stark smartphone. “That isn’t the point. The point is I thought we were a team. _You_ said we were a team. So we should be doing things together, right?”

“I think,” Steve says carefully, “that dealing with the repair people would be one of those problems best solved by splitting up and delegating.”

Tony taps away on his phone, fingers flying.

“I still can’t believe that we’re the ones babysitting the Hulk,” he says. “That’s not what I’d call good delegation, Captain. Besides, it’s not like he needs much watching,” he adds, waving one hand at the large, green man sat on the floor cross-legged between them and staring fixedly at the television. “ _Keep him out of the way_. Honestly. Turn on the box and he doesn’t go anywhere.”

“Um.” Steve looks anywhere but at Tony. “Natasha wasn’t referring to the Hulk.”

He hears a pause in Tony’s typing.

“I will have you know,” Tony says in a deceptively calm tone of voice, “that I have always been an absolute menace to babysitters, nannies, and so on.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” says Steve, “Pepper seems to survive.”

He sneaks a glance at the other man out of the corner of his eye. Tony seems about to declare that Pepper isn’t his babysitter, but then he shakes his head and smiles.

“I’m an absolute menace to her as well. She’s just the only one that never left.”

Steve settles back into the sofa, allowing himself to relax.

“Well I happen to be a pretty good babysitter, if I do say so myself. At least as good as Pepper, I’d say.”

“Really?” Tony tosses the phone onto a coffee table and turns sideways to face Steve, dumping his bare feet in Steve’s lap and giving him his full attention. “Convince me.”

“Hush,” says the Hulk and he points to the television with one huge finger. “Best bit!”


End file.
